It is late Fall and my husband, Sean (wonderful man that he is) is outside planting bulbs while I plan out layering of bulbs on the dining room floor.  From outside the window I hear him yell out . . . "Not all these bulbs will fit in the hole."

"Then dig a bigger hole", I yell back and go back to my boxes of bulbs, trying to figure out the best way to get the five boxes of bulbs into my very small corner garden.

"I dug the hole where you said, but there are already bulbs in here" calls out Sean.   I drop my spade and wander down the garden path to survey the situation.  Yup, he has dug up a pile of my precious lilies while trying to pack fifty bulbs into a spot that should really only hold fifteen.   "$*#!, ok, well, move over a foot and try there instead".   What choice do we have?  It is the last week of October and the frost is ready to hit any day.  I have run out of "I'll do it tomorrow" days and now, I have one afternoon to plant all the bulbs that didn't sell.  I stare at the five large boxes in the dining room and wonder if my supplier has anymore stock available . . . I know I can get more into the garden.  Bulbs are an addiction.  I just can't seem to get enough.

Have I lost my mind?  Probably.  But I love Fall bulbs.  They are a gardener's gift to themselves.  We do all the work of planting them in the Fall, and then after the drudgery of the cold, grey, winter months, we are overwhelmed with a colourful display of blooms that lasts for weeks with next to no work involved.  What more can you ask for from your garden?

On final count, we planted, wait for it, 1677 bulbs this year.    Yup, that's right.  1677.   What's even scarier, we already had over 3000 bulbs from the previous year.  Keep in mind, if you have seen our garden, it isn't a big space (approximately 15' x 40').   How do we do it?  Quite simply, we make less work for ourselves.  No, seriously.  With some careful planning, we planted all those bulbs in just one day.  How?  We layered our bulbs.  We packed more bulbs into less holes.

"Bulb Lasanga" as my mum happily calls it, is a simple way to fit a lot of bulbs into our small Toronto gardens.   Rather than planting a few bulbs here and a few bulbs there and then complaining you've run out of room, try layering your bulbs this year.  Layering bulbs is a great way to get bang for your buck in a small garden.  A little planning will help create a display of blooms lasting from March through to August.

Step One ::  PLANNING

First, we take all the packages we have purchased and lay them out into piles, noting the blooming season on the package (ie. early Spring, Mid-Spring, Late Spring and Summer).   We then start our planning indoors with a warm cup of tea in our hands.  We look at the bulbs and start to lay them out into small piles based on colours that compliment each other, adding in a package of bulbs from each of the blooming seasons. 

For example, in one pile we would include . . .

·         Dwarf Iris (Late Feb - Early March)

·         Giant Crocus (Mid - Late March)

·         Species Tulips (Early April)

·         Mini-Daffodils (Mid-late April)

·         Mid-Season Tulips (Early May)

·         Darwin or Parrot Tulips (Mid - Late May)

·         Lilies (June - Early July)

·         Allium (Mid June - July)

Sounds like a lot to fit into one hole - well, it is.  And that's the point. 

Step Two ::  PLACING

Bring your piles of bulbs outside and place them into the garden.  The colourful packages when lying in a heap in the garden will help you invision what the display of colours will look like.  Move the piles around in the garden until you have a good balance of colour.

Step Three :: PLANTING

One hole, dug approximately 12-14" deep and 24" wide can fit over 40 bulbs when planted in layers.   
 

Place the largest, late blooming giant Allium bulbs into the bottom of the hole.  Add an inch or soil on top of them.  Add the next layer (in this case lilies), then more soil.  The tulips come next.  Add more soil.  Eventually you will work your way up to the top of the hole with your dwarf iris' and crocus planted only a few small inches from the top of the soil.

See the diagram below to see how this method can work for you.

Step Four :: SQUIRREL PROOFING

Now I make no guarantees on this, but the best method I have discovered is probably the easiest one.  Simply stomp the ground as hard as you can over your freshly planted bulbs.  The squirrels look for disturbed earth.  If the ground is packed tightly they will figure none of the other squirrels have buried something there and will move onto another location, hopefully leaving your bulbs alone.    I lose less then a quarter of my bulbs a year to squirrels.  My biggest loss is actually to people who pick my flowers for their own enjoyment. 

** Side note, last year I lost over half my tulips in one morning after a man came by and picked my place clean.  It was only thanks to my neighbour across the street who chased him off was I able to save the rest of my precious blooms.  Please respect the time, money and effort that goes into other people's gardens.  Don't pick flowers that don't belong to you.  If you see someone doing this, speak up.  The homeowner will thank you.**

Step Five :: ENJOY

In the Spring, as one flower finishes off, the next series is already coming up in its place.  This means you get continuous blooms for weeks.   Just cut back the old foliage after it has yellowed, but before it goes to seed so the bulbs have the nutrients to start the whole process over again next year.